In recent years, South Korea, China, and Japan, have come out with “limited edition” boy and girl groups as a result of the Korean originated idol trainee competition, “PRODUCE 101”. China has spun off the most versions from the South Korean show with “Idol Producer”, “Produce 101 China”, “All For One”, “Qing Chun You Ni” (青春有你) a.k.a “Idol Producer 2”, and “Produce Camp 2019”. While many talented and good looking trainees don’t make the cut, a lot of them still debut either as a group or a solo artist.
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Rumored Mentor List for Female Version of “Qing Chun You Ni” / “Idol Producer 3” Being Circulated
It seems Korean netizens also agree with Chinese netizens as there was a post started on September 15th on a Korean discussion forum “THEQQO”, mentioning a Chinese trainee that is the “most handsome out of the South Korean, Chinese, and Japanese “PRODUCE 101″ series”. The post had already attracted more than 30,000 views in less than a day. The article even made it to Korean news with the headline, “Chinese Version Cha Eun Woo”. The Chinese trainee they were talking about is the 185 cm tall, Yao Chi (姚弛), also known as Zeawo. He was a trainee on “Qing Chun You Ni”, popular for his good looks and tall height during the show’s run this year.
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Korean netizens started posting his personal pictures and compared it against GIFs of him during “Qing Chun You Ni”. They left comments such as, “He’s too handsome!”, “He kind of gives the feeling of being mixed.”, “I originally wanted to say the title was too exaggerated. In the end, he’s really handsome.”, “He kind of looks like a mix between Lucas, Ong Seong Woo, and Taeyong”. The article even made it to Dispatch, the news outlet known for exposing dating news and scandals. They even referred to Yao Chi as the “Chinese version Cha Eun Woo”.
“Produce Camp 2019” Debuts 11 Member Group, R1SE
“PRODUCE X 101” Debuts 11 Person Group, “X1”
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It’s reported Yao Chi was the hottest guy at his school from elementary to college. He already had some fame during his school days. He was ranked fourth in his province for his English speaking abilities. He was even the lead singer at his school’s band. Not only was he popular for his looks, but he was said to be an ace student, a smart guy, and often crowded by female students.
“Produce Camp 2019” Debuts 11 Member Group, R1SE
“Idol Producer 2” Finale Debuts New Group “UNINE”
However, everyone goes through the awkward phase of puberty. Yao Chi once revealed on “Qing Chun You Ni” that he weighed around 100 kg (~220 lbs) before entering high school. He later lost the weight and became the Yao Chi who reads anime books on subways.
Credit: ETtoday, Zeawo, Weibo (1, 2, 3), Zeawo IG, Cha Eun Woo IG
Yeah, he’s really handsome.
I also thought he was mixed too.